Skewer (obstacle)

Skewers (also known as Spikes[1] and Spike Pillars[2]) are grey, blue, black or green pillars with spikes on them. First appearing in Super Mario World, they can either power-down Mario or crush him for an instant life loss. In later titles, however, the Skewers can only power-down Mario.

Originally appearing as light grey stone pillars in fortresses and castles, the Skewers are all vertical in Super Mario World, moving up and down blocking the path. There are usually several of them in a row which have to be timed. There were also some yellow miniature ones without spikes (resembling pencils) in Chocolate Fortress and #7 Larry's Castle.

Skewers, referred to as pistons in the Prima game guide,[3] make a comeback in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (now black with gold spikes), the latter of which also features a very long and extremely fast piston that runs along the floor for the length of a long room in World 4-, and very large vertical ones in World 6- and World 7-. The sound they make is that of a large sliding gate slamming.

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, Skewers make a reappearance. However, unlike past New Super Mario Bros. installments, they are blue, and they appear only in one course, World 3-, which is water-filled course, and only horizontal Skewers are featured.

A Skewer, as it appears in the New Super Mario Bros. U game style, in Super Mario Maker.

Skewers return in Super Mario Maker as an addition in a software update that was released on March 9, 2016. They function identically to their previous iterations, activating every few seconds, but with some differences. Their tips have been flattened, they come with a base that they shoot out of, and have a maximum length of 13 blocks long, plus the base, unless they hit terrain.

They can also be added to any of the four game styles, including the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, where they had never appeared before. In these 8-bit adaptations, they are largely black, with some gray scaling on the edges, and spikes; the points are white, with the sides of the spike as gray. There is a little bit more detail on the Super Mario Bros. 3 version.

Skewers can be used by shaking the Thwomps; however, they can't be enlarged with Super Mushrooms.[4]

In Wario Land: Shake It!, Skewers are featured only in underwater levels. If Wario inside his Subwarine comes in contact with these, the Subwarine will take damage reducing Wario's heart health to half.

Skewers from Super Mario 3D Land also appear in the stage based on the game, 3D Land, in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, where they rise from the water and can destroy part of the stage's platforms (which resemble Switchboards from Super Mario 3D Land), as well as hit any players who touch them.

* Not in all styles. † Not in Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. Bold means the player can use these elements from the start of Wii U version. Underline means the player can use these elements from the start of the 3DS version.